Parliamentary questions

3442. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science whether any emergency or accelerated programmes funded through the National Training Fund are planned to address current labour shortages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23945/26]

3443. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science what reforms to the structure or governance of the National Training Fund are under consideration to prevent the accumulation of large unspent surpluses in future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23946/26]

3444. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the percentage of GDP for public spending on research and higher education. [24198/26]

3445. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will provide grants and/or funding specifically relating to potential issues in the transport sector which create barriers to the potential introduction of not-for-profit ridesharing platforms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24237/26]

3446. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the action his Department has taken with a view to increasing the number of dental training places for Irish students, taking into account that currently there are more non-Irish dental students being trained in Irish dental colleges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24329/2…

3447. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if her Department has engaged with Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork with a view to providing additional funding to enable them to increase the number of places that would be available for Irish students who wish to study dentistry; and if he will make a statement on the m…

3448. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his Department has engaged with other EU countries with a view to establishing a standard programme of training which would be acceptable in each of the jurisdictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24331/26]

3449. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the details of the circumstances which led to the write off expenditure amounting to €427,000 incurred on professional fees relating to a building that did not go ahead in Atlantic Technological University in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24374/26]

3450. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if grant support is available for a student in receipt of disability allowance who is undertaking a part-time online course at ATU Sligo (details supplied) and is not eligible for SUSI funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24430/26]

3451. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science whether any artificial intelligence tools or systems are currently being used within his Department or in agencies under its remit; the purposes for which these tools are being used; whether any departmental guidance or governance structures have been developed to support their respo…

3452. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the progress on the Wexford campus of the South-East Technological University; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24475/26]

3453. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the amount of Government funding provided to environmental NGOs (details supplied) in each of the past ten years. [24506/26]

3454. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in light of the recent layoffs of 25 adult education tutors in GRETB and the closure of 150 classes, will he confirm the extent of the reduction in budgets for ESOL and other programmes in adult education across the country; and to confirm the number of tutors jobs projected to be l…

3455. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the progress being made on the delivery of student accommodation under the €100 million Short-Term Activation Programme announced in 2022; the number of these projects that have commenced; and if all of the allocated funding been drawn down. [24551/26]

3456. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the value and duration of contracts and service provision arrangements his Department and all bodies under his aegis have or had with a company (details supplied) in the past ten years to date in 2026; if he will clarify whether his Department was the beneficiary of professional work o…

3457. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to provide a list of the NGOs that have received Government funding from his Department in the past five years. [24638/26]

3458. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in light of the recent layoffs of 25 adult education tutors in the Galway Roscommon ETB, to confirm the extent of the reduction in budgets for ESOL and other programmes in adult education across the country; and the number of tutor jobs projected to be lost across all ETBs. [2466…

3459. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the consideration given to creating new fast-track apprenticeship routes to becoming an ISL interpreter or ISL teacher, as well as fast-track accreditation for ISL interpreters. [24680/26]

3460. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science whether he is aware that Research Ireland are currently planning to cease their Government of Ireland postgraduate and postdoctoral fellowship programmes, and will thus no longer be directly funding PhD candidates and postdoctoral fellows under this system, which will have knock-…

3461. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he is aware of eligibility requirements for blended learning veterinary nursing programmes, including those provided by Technological University of the Shannon, which require applicants to be employed in practices with a registered veterinary nurse; if consideration will be given …

3462. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to make single migrant parents eligible for the SUSI grant as there is currently no targeted support for this cohort; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24977/26]

3463. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the targeted measures his Department is taking to support lone parents in re-entering education; to outline his engagements with other government departments to facilitate same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24978/26]

3464. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if the case of a person (details supplied) will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25005/26]

3465. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of civil and public servants in her Department and agencies under its remit who have received training in AI, data literacy, or digital skills in the past year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25036/26]

3466. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the funding that is available to assist with a new initiative (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25161/26]